Schools are walking an attendance tightrope as the government ratchets up pressure on reducing stubbornly high absence rates – but parents are becoming more vocal in their opposition to measures to get kids back in the classroom post-Covid. Schools Week investigates …

Schools are having to apologise and scramble to dampen parental anger over proposed attendance policies. In one case, a parent took to social media to tell a secondary: “You do not own my child.”

Leaders say the incident is indicative of heads put in an “impossible position”, as the government increases the pressure to get pupils back into class. 

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has described absence levels as an “emergency”, with analysis suggesting it has become a bigger issue during inspections.

Parents’ views have changed in a post-Covid world. Research conducted by consultancy Thinks Insight & Strategy, cited by the Department for Education, shows parents “consider small periods of absence from school manageable” and are more concerned about “spreading illnesses”. 

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